Do you ever feel that you aren’t teaching at your best? Not that you are deliberately not trying, but that you aren’t being deliberate about how you teach all of the time? Sometimes I go home and think about how the day has gone and realize, that I could have done better. So what, right? […]
Teacher Leaders
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
How “Big Ed” Could Ruin America
There’s been much-to-do with EpiPens in the news these past few weeks. As the company Mylan has raised the price of the life-saving, anti-allergen medicine from $100 to $600, there have been more than 1,700 articles claiming everything it costs $30 to manufacture to denouncing the teachers’ union for being complicit in the calamity. Seriously. This […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
The 600 Pound Gorilla in the Room: Dealing with Educator Sexual Misconduct
If there is one topic that educators don’t want to talk about, it is educator sexual misconduct. It is disturbing and disgusting to think that individuals who are hired to help, encourage, and teach students would think to do anything so profane. In fact, it makes me sick to my stomach just writing about this. […]
Posted inClassroom Management
Time to End Students’ Need for Instant Gratification
When you were in your educational psychology class a few years back, you probably learned about instant gratification. This behavior, at heart, is when we pursue what we want, when we want it. Often, that means now. The primal need couldn’t be more evident in our school children – and it’s up to us educators to redirect it. […]
Posted inBack to School
Small Things to Create a Great Community
At the end of last school year, after I informed my students that I would be leaving the district, they showered me with gratitude. They wrote notes; they gave speeches; they made a scrapbook; they spent money on gifts; they arranged parties with food; they collaborated with teachers and counselors to surprise me with a […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Teaching Outside Your Classroom
In my last article “Teaching Class (with Class),” I explored the varied definitions of class: one a group of students we teach, another a way to uphold one’s self with students (and the public, in general). This week, we’re going to explore methods on how to move the public pendulum outside of school with these […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Encouraging Conversation About Teen Suicide
We’re just a few weeks into the new school year, and already communities are mourning the tragic deaths of students by suicide. From the public outcry of Daniel Fitzpatrick’s parents to the private grief of classmates, teen suicide plagues the school community. How do we talk to our students about the devastating realities of depression […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Easing Those First Day Jitters
It is so important to make our students feel comfortable upon the first day of school. We need to remember the backgrounds that our students come from. And we can’t assume that just because we have kids in the middle class that they are coming from homes that have everything together. We also need to […]